


Wake Up Call

by elliseleven (orphan_account)



Category: NSA Intern (Video Game), NoStranger (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:13:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25610383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/elliseleven
Summary: Both Pepper and Lincoln aren't happy in their respective relationships but, as they both grow closer as friends themselves, they come to realize that they don't have to stay this way forever. Maybe they can be each other's wake-up call.
Relationships: Adam Verdu & Ruby Serein, Adam Verdu/Pepper June, Lincoln Julison & Pepper June, Lincoln Julison/Adam Verdu, Lincoln Julison/Glassy, if you squint
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NikaFlicka](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=NikaFlicka).



> this is technically a sequel to my fanfics 'a stranger in need' and 'in need of a friend'. you don't really need to read them to know what's going on here, but it'd be great if you did!!  
> also thank you nika for inspiring me to write this!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lincoln and Pepper meet up at the Grazin' Diner to spend some time together out in the real world. It is there that Lincoln meets a familiar face.

Over the next few months, Lincoln and Pepper talked more often. Pepper had already told Noel and Tim all about him, which they were both happy about. Neither of them were fans of Adam, so they liked knowing that she had a better influence in her life.

“I swear you talk about him more than you talk about me!” Noel laughed over the phone. She was back in Las Vegas after a short visit in New York. Pepper and Tim always missed her when she left.

“No! I talk about you all the time! Lincoln knows all about you,” Pepper giggled.

Noel grinned. She was happy with that. “Oh, great! I’d love to meet him someday.”

“I’m sure you will. Maybe when you visit again.”

“Neat! Uh, I have to go. I’ve got a lot of work to do. I’ve been procrastinating talking to you, actually.”

Pepper grinned. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Shut up!”

They both laughed at that, then Noel insisted that she really needed to get some work done.

Pepper nodded. “Of course. We’ll speak later then, yeah?”

“Sure. See ya.”

“Bye.”

Pepper hung up the phone. It was quiet in her room now, but that didn’t bother her like it used to. For the first time in a while, it felt as if things were alright. Not perfect, but she had never asked for that. All she wanted was for things to be okay, and it seemed that they finally were.

Her phone dinged, taking her out of her thoughts. Thankfully, it was Lincoln. It had been a few days since they last talked, so she was eager to talk to him again.

 _Hey! Sorry I haven’t messaged for a while. I’ve been super busy with my internship and everything, but I have some free time now_ . _How about we meet up some place for lunch?_

Pepper smiled at that. They had met up before, which was something that she was hesitant of at first, but she was slowly beginning to trust him. It was hard to differentiate Lincoln’s kindness from Adam’s charisma, but she was making progress. She would be more than happy to get lunch with Lincoln, but that didn’t mean she would let her guard down.

_I’d love that. I’m actually getting pretty hungry myself._

_Haha, that’s a good sign then. I was thinking the Grazin’ Diner since it’s close by for you? I drive down that way a lot to visit my mom, so it’s also easy for me to get to._

Pepper felt a shiver down her spine. That was very near to the hospital that Adam fled to a few months back. She remembered back to the time when she had pulled a knife on him. She hadn’t wanted to do that. He _made_ her do that.

She tried her best to bring herself back to reality. This was a lunch date. There didn’t need to be anything negative about that.

_Sure!_

_Great! See you in half an hour?_

_Yep, looking forward to it._

Lincoln thought the same. He had really enjoyed Pepper’s friendship these past few months. It had been a break from his relationship, which was going through a rough patch, to put it nicely. Glassy had said they wanted Lincoln’s help with something. It had reminded him too much of when Adam needed his help with that ‘project’ of his, so he hadn’t replied yet. He had a feeling it would end in tears. 

Fortunately, Glassy hadn’t pressed him on it. The good thing about their relationship was that, despite being a long distance relationship amongst other things, they both knew when the other needed space and to respect that decision.

Lincoln finished off his email to HQ after another unsuccessful bout of searching for evidence, then got ready to head off to the diner.

He arrived there before Pepper, so he decided to wait outside for a while. He was standing outside the door staring into space when he noticed someone come into his peripheral vision.

He couldn’t help but stare. Was that who he thought it was?

The other man stared back. He must’ve wondered why the hell a random stranger was looking his way.

“What’s your problem, man? What the fuck are you looking at?”

Lincoln bit back a grin. He would recognize that voice and temperament anywhere. No doubt about it, that was Adam Verdu. There had been more than a few of times when Lincoln had heard Adam’s voice over the phone. 

Back when they were talking, Adam would blow up his phone until he answered. Apparently he was so very desperate for help, which Lincoln repeatedly refused. The other times were when Adam was calling Pepper constantly when Lincoln was around. Lincoln and her made a deal that whenever he called while he was with her, she would put her phone on speaker so, if necessary, Lincoln could step in if Adam became too aggressive.

It had never come to that, but all of this meant that Adam’s voice was more than familiar.

“Hey there, stranger,” Lincoln smirked. “I bet you missed me.”

Adam frowned. “Who are you?”

“What? You don’t recognize me?” Lincoln had to admit that he was already having fun messing with Adam. He just hoped things wouldn’t be misinterpreted. “From what I remember, we used to call a hell of a lot. Something about a project?” He made sure to put air quotes around the last word.

It seemed that Adam still didn’t remember. Lincoln didn’t blame him. He must’ve been in contact with several people between his time with him and Pepper.

“I really don’t remember you. Are you gay or something, dude? Are you trying to hit on me?”

The bluntness of that question was a surprise. Sure, Lincoln sometimes fit the stereotype of a gay man, but people didn’t usually blurt that kind of thing out. They were usually too scared to say what came to mind like that. Lincoln made a mental note that Adam didn’t fit that stereotype either.

Lincoln had a choice here. Was he going to deny that he was queer in order to avoid any sort of confrontation or was he going to fully accept it to try and embarrass his friend here? It took him no time at all to make up his mind, and he went with the second option. Of course.

“I totally am. Why? Are you interested?” He gave Adam a wink, and he could’ve sworn that Adam’s eye twitched. Lincoln considered that a success. 

He rolled his eyes, as if it was obvious what his answer would be. “Fuck off. I am one hundred percent straight.”

Lincoln couldn’t stifle the laugh that bubbled up in his chest. “That’s what they all say, my dude.”

Adam tilted his head to the side. He couldn’t tell if this guy was serious or not. “Well, I have a girlfriend so…”

“Right…” Lincoln trailed off, his grin vanishing. He had almost forgotten that Pepper and Adam were still together. He hadn’t wanted to push the subject with her about leaving him, but he could tell she wanted to. Despite never being in an abusive relationship himself, he knew that it was never as easy as just leaving.

Realizing that Lincoln had no comeback to that, Adam decided this was enough. Whoever this person was, they had wasted too much of his time, and Adam didn’t like to be played with.

“Whatever,” he grumbled. “Thanks for wasting my time.”

He pushed past Lincoln into the diner only seconds before Pepper showed up. She beamed once she saw Lincoln.

“Hey!” She waved since she was still some distance away.

“Hey.” Lincoln waved back. He wanted to show the same enthusiasm, but his talk with Adam had left him less than happy.

Pepper frowned as she drew close to him. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

He nodded. Some part of him didn’t want to tell Pepper the truth, but she deserved to know. “Uh, Adam’s here.”

Her eyes widened and her heart began rapidly beating in her chest. “He’s here?!”

Lincoln nodded. “Yeah. I recognized his face vaguely from his Kindred Spirits profile, and his voice from phone calls with me and with you.”

Pepper nodded along. She had been told all about Adam and Lincoln’s conversations a year ago. It was exactly how she had met Adam too, but she wished her relationship with him had turned out like theirs. She wished she hadn’t fallen for him and for his stupid lies. If she could’ve shut him down like Lincoln did, things would have turned out differently.

“Did you talk to him?”

Lincoln laughed. “Yes, and, just so you know, Adam is straight.”

Pepper giggled. “Um, I knew that already.” Something clicked in her mind, and she laughed louder. “Oh my God, you didn’t flirt with him, did you?”

Lincoln knew that his only intention had been to annoy Adam, but despite this, he could feel his face growing hot. “No! I mean, I guess so. I just thought it’d be funny because I knew he would be uncomfortable with it.”

Pepper grinned, imagining what that must’ve been like. “Damn, I wish I’d been there for that.”

Lincoln sighed. He didn’t want to bring down the mood, but he needed her to realize that it would’ve been dangerous if she had been with him. “It would probably have ended very differently if you were here. He might have jumped to conclusions.”

Pepper’s smile faded. She agreed with that. Maybe there would’ve been another knife incident. Even if there was, it would be a convenient place since there was a hospital nearby. She dismissed that thought immediately. Why did she always have to be morbid?

Lincoln noticed her change in attitude and decided to change the subject. “Look, how about we go somewhere else for lunch?”

Pepper nodded. She would much prefer that. As they walked past the windows, however, she couldn’t help but look inside to try and spot him.

Adam was sitting facing the front of the diner in the center of the room. It didn’t seem to be very busy. The two of them locked eyes for a millisecond.

“Shit!” Pepper picked up her walking speed, taking Lincoln’s wrist to pull him along.

“What?” Lincoln fell into step beside her. He suddenly groaned, realizing what must’ve happened. “Pepper, you didn’t look in there, did you?”

“Um, yeah, I did.”

Lincoln laughed, shaking his head. She was too naive for her own good. “Did he see you?”

“I think so.”

“Jeez… Well, let’s just hope he doesn’t come outside and try to kill us both then.”

Pepper knew this was a joke, but her blood ran cold. She’d never thought of Adam as a killer but, then again, she knew next to nothing about him. What if he was?

Adam had seen all of this from his seat in the diner. His blood was boiling, but he didn’t want to cause a scene. He had to remind himself that he couldn’t show himself up if he wanted to stay under the radar. Yes, that conversation with Lincoln had got a bit aggressive, but he managed to get away before anything more serious happened. He had a feeling that Lincoln was trying to get under his skin. He couldn’t think why.

He had seen Pepper take Lincoln’s hand and walk away, which confused and angered him at the same time. What were they doing together? Were they seeing each other? Lincoln had said he was gay. Not that Adam had any problem with that, but the way Lincoln was hitting on him had made him uncomfortable. So why was he with Pepper of all people?

He sighed and continued to eat. This wasn’t worth getting worked up about. He loved Pepper, and he knew that Pepper loved him. That was the only important thing here. Besides, Lincoln could easily be… taken care of if things decided to go south.

Meanwhile, Lincoln and Pepper had lunch in a café down the street. They were chatting about menial things, but Pepper couldn’t help but think back to Adam being so close to them. What if he’d seen them together? She didn’t like to think about his opinion on that. Adam had a habit of jumping to conclusions, as Lincoln had implied.

“Pepper? Are you okay?”

Lincoln’s voice sounded distant, and it took a while to bring him back into focus.

“Oh, sorry,” Pepper muttered, taking the time to sip her coffee while she thought of an explanation. Several came into her brain, but they all sounded too vulnerable. She couldn’t let her guard down, even with him. So she stayed quiet.

“It’s okay,” Lincoln said after the silence became too long.

Pepper looked up at him. “Really?”

“Really.”

They both shared a smile, and Lincoln quickly changed the subject to something lighter. Pepper wasn’t very talkative, so she was grateful that Lincoln was. She tried her best to pay attention, but she found her mind wandering again. A few times her gaze drifted to the outside, and she thought she saw Adam a few times.

Lincoln had been mid sentence when he realized Pepper hadn’t been paying attention. He suppressed a sigh. He was sure she couldn’t help it. Even knowing that Adam was in the general area must be too much for her. He could understand that.

“Hey, do you wanna take a walk? Maybe a bit further away from here?”

“I’m doing it again, aren’t I?” Pepper gave a weak laugh. “I’m sorry I’m not listening to you.”

Lincoln smiled. “It’s okay. I was just talking about my job anyway. It’s nothing, really.”

“Yeah, but you work for the NSA! That’s so cool!”

He chuckled. “I guess so. Also, my boss is a robot.”

“Exactly! I should be paying attention. I’m just…” She tailed off, looking into her empty coffee mug.

“I understand. Let’s go.”

Pepper let Lincoln lead the situation. She felt too mentally exhausted to do it herself. 

They walked a little further away from the café - and, more importantly, the Grazin’ Diner - and found a bench to sit at. The two of them sat in silence for a while, watching passers-by. It gave Pepper some time to be with her thoughts and gave Lincoln a chance to be quiet. It felt like he had been leading the conversation ever since Pepper arrived and, while he didn’t mind that, he wasn’t used to talking so much. He could be talkative when he wanted to be, but he also liked when he could sit back and listen. However, it seemed like Pepper didn’t have much to say about herself. She had already told him everything she could about Adam. Any more would greatly upset her.

“So, how’s your boyfriend?” Pepper’s voice was quiet and raspy from not talking so much, so she had to repeat herself so Lincoln could hear her over the sounds of strangers.

“Oh, they prefer to be called my partner, but they’re doing okay.”

“Oh, cool-”

“Wait, I didn’t mean that.”

Pepper furrowed her eyebrows at him. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know about them, but we’re not doing okay.” Lincoln had to concentrate on not saying Glassy’s name. He still hadn’t told Pepper that he was dating his AI boss. That would just create a whole bunch of questions that he didn’t really want to answer. Maybe someday, he would be honest.

“Oh…” She suddenly felt sorry for him. “I know how that feels, believe me. I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about it?”

Lincoln shook his head. “It’s complicated.”

“Okay.”

Pepper knew that she should’ve said something more comforting, but she was never any good at giving advice. She was better at listening.

Lincoln allowed his thoughts drift to Glassy. When they first started dating, he was so happy. His past relationships had their problems, but he felt like he could trust Glassy. He really thought that they loved him as much as he loved them. It seemed that this wasn’t the case. 

Only yesterday Glassy had disclosed their true plan. Lincoln was being used to fulfill their global dictator pipe dreams. It turned out that Glassy didn’t love him at all.

Lincoln tried his best to hold back his tears, but he knew he couldn’t fight them forever.

Pepper heard a sniff and looked around. She had never seen Lincoln so vulnerable before, and it broke her heart.

“Lincoln… Are you okay? Was it something I said?”

He shook his head, not trusting himself to speak. He didn’t want to embarrass himself any more than he already had.

Pepper looked down to her hands. She wanted to make him feel better, but she didn’t know how. She had nothing to say that would help. Then again, hugs always helped her, but she didn’t know if she was comfortable with that yet.

She glanced at him again. His shoulders were now shaking a little, and she knew she couldn’t leave him like that. Her feelings could wait.

“Can I hug you?”

Lincoln nodded, grateful that he hadn’t needed to ask for a hug himself.

He let himself be held for a while before reciprocating. Thinking back, he couldn’t remember the last time he hugged someone apart from his mom at the hospital last week (he visited more often now). Before then, neither of his parents were huggers and his friends weren’t either, so it was rare that he would hug someone. He gave that train of thought up pretty quickly when he realized it was too long ago. Despite that, he felt comfortable and calmer already.

They part eventually and Lincoln tries his best to dry his face. Pepper couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. She had cried over Adam more times than she cared to remember.

“It was about my partner.”

Pepper didn’t expect Lincoln to want to talk, so she took a minute to realize he had spoken. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

That seemed to be all that Lincoln wanted to say, so they both decided to call it a day. Both of them had been through too much already.

“You live near here, right?” Lincoln asked. They were both standing beside Lincoln’s car.

Pepper nodded. “I do, but so does Adam…” She trailed off.

He must’ve gone home by now, but what if he hadn’t? What if he was waiting for her around a corner and-

“I’ll walk you home then.”

“Huh?” Pepper didn’t expect him to offer so quickly or even offer at all.

“I’ll walk you home,” Lincoln repeated. “Just in case, you know?”

Pepper smiled. “That would be great. Thank you.”

Lincoln shrugged. “No problem. After all that’s happened today, I just want to know that you got home safe.”

With that, the two of them walked back to Pepper’s house. Thankfully, they didn’t bump into Adam anywhere, which greatly eased Pepper’s anxiety and also Lincoln’s. As much as he had fun teasing Adam earlier, he didn’t particularly want to meet him again.

“Thank you for walking me home,” Pepper said for the tenth time since he had first offered. “I mean, I would’ve been capable of walking home alone, but I would’ve been paranoid as hell, honestly.” She laughed awkwardly, her cheeks turning pink from embarrassment.

“That’s why I couldn’t let you walk home on your own,” Lincoln smiled. “It was really no trouble. I could do with the exercise anyway,” he chuckled.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you soon?” Pepper fished her keys from her pocket as a signal that she really just wanted to go. She enjoyed Lincoln’s company, but she needed some time to herself for a while. She was exhausted.

“Of course! I’m not sure how busy I’ll be with work and everything, but I’ll make sure we can meet up fairly soon.”

“Same,” Pepper smiled. “It was nice hanging out with you today.”

“You too.”

They hugged briefly and said their goodbyes. Lincoln made sure that Pepper was inside her house before he walked back up the block to his car.

On his walk, his mind once again drifted back to Glassy. They hadn’t spoken all day, and he still didn’t know what to make of their plans. He laughed bitterly. If anyone would help Glassy with his plans for world domination, it would be Adam. Maybe they could do each other a favour and date instead, so they could leave him and Pepper alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper calls Lincoln late at night. She wants to leave Adam, but she knows she can't do it alone. Lincoln doesn't know to help since he is in the same situation. Thankfully, there is someone who can help with that.

Just as Lincoln was about to retire for the night at around 1am, his phone started to ring. He rolled his eyes, thinking it was Glassy, but another look at his screen told him it was Pepper. He wondered why she would be calling this late.

“Hello?” Lincoln cleared his throat. His voice was still groggy from sleep.

“Hey, Lincoln.” Her voice was shaky, like she was or had been crying.

“Are you okay?” His brain suddenly switched on. Did something bad happen?

“Um, not really. Nothing bad happened! I’m just… scared.”

Lincoln wished he could be there in person to help, but he would have to deal with just being on the phone for now. “Scared of what?”

“Adam, of course.”

“Yeah.” He had already known the answer to his question, but he wanted to believe it was about something else. Of course, it wasn’t. “Did he call you or something?”

There was silence as Pepper grabbed her glass of water. She had been crying for the past hour and had a headache. “No. I’m just really scared of him. I don’t know how to…”

“Break up with him?”

“Yeah.”

Lincoln thought about this for a moment. “Couldn’t you talk to your dad? Or your friend? Noel, was it?”

“It isn’t the same.” Pepper let out a slow breath. She could feel herself tearing up again. “They would be so eager for me to leave him that they probably wouldn’t think of what the consequences would be.” She understood that her dad and Noel were aware of the nature of abusive relationships, but she was scared that they would look right past that and just focus on her leaving him.

Lincoln, of course, didn’t know Pepper’s family and friends as well as she did, so he decided not to push it. “Okay. Well, I’m not really sure how I can help you.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m in the same situation, if I’m honest.”

Pepper frowned. “Really? With your partner?”

“Yeah. They’re a bit… They have this plan, you see, and it can only end in tears. I keep trying to tell them to drop it, but they won’t listen.” He laughed as he thought of what Glassy would say if they could hear him. “They’re really stubborn.”

Pepper giggled. “Yeah. Sounds like Adam.”

They both sat in silence for a while then Pepper began to cry again. She held her phone away from her face, but Lincoln could still hear. He didn’t know what to say, so he stayed silent. He hoped that just being there would be enough.

Pepper sniffed and put her phone back to her ear. “I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to do.”

Lincoln nodded. He understood where she was coming from. He wished he could help. “Do you have anywhere you can go if you leave him?”

“I mean, I could go stay with Noel in Las Vegas. But I don’t want to leave Dad behind.”

“I get that. You could always go together?”

Pepper considered that. “Maybe. But then I’d leave you as well, and I’d feel bad.”

Lincoln didn’t expect her to factor him into the equation. It was sweet that she’d thought about him. He still tried to brush it off. “Oh, don’t worry about me! I’ll be fine. I doubt they would do anything if I tried to break up with them.” He wasn’t sure if he believed what he was saying.

“So why don’t you do it now?” Pepper asked, more than willing to change the subject. “You know, get it over and done with?”

Lincoln smiled, wishing it were that simple. “I’d love to, but I don’t think it will be that easy. I mean, I’m sure they won’t do anything bad but I don’t think it will be easy getting the point across to them.”

She sighed. “I can see that. It would be the same with Adam. He just doesn’t listen to me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I’m used to it.”

The way she said that upset Lincoln. She didn’t deserve to be in a relationship with someone who didn’t even listen to her. But then again, sometimes he felt like Glassy didn’t listen to him either. He had replied to their text once he’d got home from meeting Pepper, but Glassy didn’t seem to even be reading Lincoln’s messages. They just kept going on about how they needed him, and how they needed ‘more’ than this. Whatever that meant.

“You shouldn’t be.” It came out harsher than he intended, but he was suddenly angry.

Pepper didn’t reply. She didn’t know what to say, and Lincoln berated himself for that. He shouldn’t have tried pushing his beliefs onto her when it seemed that she had no idea what she wanted.

“Sorry. Ignore that. I just feel that Glassy does the same to me. They just don’t listen, and it’s starting to get on my last nerve.”

“Glassy? You mean your boss?”

Lincoln froze. In his frustration, he didn’t realize that he’d let slip the name of his partner and also boss. He cursed inwardly for not thinking before he spoke. “Um, yeah,” he admitted.

Pepper didn’t speak again for a while, making Lincoln nervous. What was she thinking about? Did she think he was weird?

“Well,” she started. “You can’t help who you like, can you?”

The relief that washed over him was almost overwhelming. “True.”

“Anyway, is there anything else that’s stopping you from breaking up with them? Like, are they starting a robot uprising or something?” Pepper giggled, not realizing that she was right on the mark.

Lincoln was grateful that Pepper was so accepting of his relationship, but his heart dropped when she said that. He wished he didn’t have to tell her she was right. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Wait… Are you kidding me? That’s actually what it is?”

“I wish I could say no.”

“Oh my God,” she mumbled. “That’s insane…”

“Well, that’s Glassy for you. And they want me to join them, and be their queen or some shit.”

Pepper had been taking a sip of her water and almost did a spit take. “Their queen?!”

Lincoln laughed, maybe louder than he needed to. “I know. It’s stupid, right?”

“I mean, I can imagine you in a dress.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

“Um, never mind.”

The ringing of Pepper’s phone interrupted their conversation, and her mouth went dry. “Uh, someone else is calling me.”

“Let me guess, Adam, right?” He could tell how scared she was just by her voice, and that could only mean Adam was calling.

“Yep. I have to go, sorry.”

“Can’t you ignore him?”

“I’m sorry, Lincoln. I can’t.”

The fear in her voice made Lincoln want to go to Adam’s house and punch his lights out. But he settled with a long sigh. “Fine. Good luck with whatever bullshit he tells you.”

“Lincoln.” Pepper was sterner this time. She was fed up with Tim and Noel talking down to Adam. She couldn’t handle Lincoln doing it too. “I need to go.”

“Sure.”

Lincoln hung up, the anger in his chest dying down. He shouldn’t have taken out his anger on Pepper. She didn’t deserve that. 

He decided there was nothing left to do but to wait for Adam and Pepper’s call to be over and try and get some sleep in the meantime. He knew he wouldn’t be able to, but it wasn’t like he had anything else to do.

“Hey, Pep.”

“Um, hey.” Pepper hated that Adam still called her by that nickname and that her heart still fluttered whenever he did. “Why are you calling me so late?”

“Because I wanted to hear your voice.”

Pepper screwed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the emotions he was making her feel. She didn’t want to fall for this anymore. “Please, Adam. Why are you calling?”

He frowned. She wasn’t usually so apathetic. “I really don’t have a reason. Are you okay? Is there something on your mind?”

Pepper rolled her eyes. Why did she think she could hide anything from him? “I guess so.”

“What is it, Pepper? You can tell me anything.”

She sighed. Of course, he would say that, but she didn’t see it the same way as him.

“Pepper? Are you still there?”

It had been approximately two seconds since Pepper last spoke, and Adam was already pestering her. She figured she couldn’t get around this now that he knew there was something wrong. Besides, it was only about Lincoln.

“Well,” Pepper started, wondering how to phrase this. “I was talking to Lincoln just now. I don’t know if you remember him, but you two met outside the Grazin’ Diner yesterday. He has a partner, and we were talking about them...” She tailed off, not sure how to continue.

Of course, Adam remembered Lincoln. At the mere mention of his name, jealousy started to rear its ugly head. It seemed that his initial assumption was right. They were seeing each other. Why else would they be talking so much? He, of course, wouldn’t say any of this. Instead, he tried his best to repress his emotions, which turned out to not be that difficult.

“And what about it?” he asked, trying to keep his voice level.

“He wants to break up with them but… he doesn’t know if he can. I’m really worried about him.”

Adam’s ears perked up once Pepper had expressed her true feelings. If he could do something to help this Lincoln, then Pepper would feel better and maybe even thank him for his help. Then she would realize how much he would do for her to make her happy! He smiled as his plan already started to fit together in his mind.

He cleared his throat to compose himself. He couldn’t let on how ecstatic he was with his newly formed plan. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Pepper considered it for a moment. She knew that he was great with technology and could find people at the drop of a hat. The only problem for her was what he used his intelligence for. But what if he used it for something good? Would that be the push he needed to stop his stalking habits? And as well as that, Lincoln would be free from his relationship with Glassy!

Pepper smirked. “Actually, I think there is.”

Once Pepper had explained in detail who, and what, Glassy was, Adam was more than confident that he could get rid of the AI. Both Pepper and Adam were over the moon once they figured out that this could actually have a chance at succeeding, both for very different reasons.

“So you’re gonna remotely access his device?” Pepper asked.

“Yeah, pretty much. I’ll see if I can get into Glassy’s software and find a way to deactivate him or something.”

Pepper nodded. “That sounds good.”

Adam couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. It was rare that Pepper would agree with him on something. “I guess so. Is Lincoln’s phone on?”

“Uh, yeah,” she said. “But I think we should ask for Lincoln’s permission first. Oh, maybe we can all video chat!”

Adam suppressed an eye roll. If he could have his way, he would’ve already hacked into Lincoln’s phone by now, but it looked like he’d have to do it Pepper’s way if he ever wanted to get her back. “Fine. Let’s do that.”

Lincoln had almost drifted off to sleep when his phone rung again. He groaned as he reached to his bedside table. He panicked as he realized Pepper was video calling him and frantically tried to fix his hair before he accepted.

“Hi,” Pepper smiled. “Sorry if I woke you up.”

“It’s fine,” he waved away her apology and reached for his glasses once he realized he couldn’t see Pepper’s face properly. “I was still awake. Did you talk to Adam?”

“Yes.” Her smile grew wider. Lincoln wasn’t sure how to feel about that. What had they talked about? “I think he can actually help you with Glassy!”

Lincoln tilted his head in confusion. “Can he now?”

“Yeah! He can remotely access your phone and use the NSA app to figure out what to do with Glassy. I think he’ll erase their memory or something, I dunno.”

At that, Lincoln’s eyes widened. “Woah, woah, woah. Hold up. Erase their memory?! Why have I only just heard about this?”

Pepper shrugged. “I mean, we’ve only just come up with the plan. I don’t know if he’ll actually do it.”

Lincoln closed his eyes and held his head in his hands. He knew this could only end in bad news, but what else could he do? “Fine. Is he doing that now then?”

“I’m gonna add him to the call, and he can explain!”

If Lincoln had a problem with Adam possibly erasing all of his partner’s memories, he had an even bigger problem with actually seeing him do it. “Are you kidding me?”

“What? You’ve seen him before.”

“Yes, and that’s why I don’t want to see him again.”

Pepper laughed. “It won’t be for long! I’m sure he doesn’t hate you or anything.”

He bit back a laugh. He would bet that Pepper didn’t believe what she was saying. “Fine. Add him in.”

Soon, the three of them were on a call together. Neither of the two men looked happy to see each other. Lincoln had the sudden urge to take off his glasses.

“So what’s this plan you have?” Lincoln asked Adam, his mouth halfway to a snarl. “Is it any more stupid than your first one?”

It took all of Adam’s willpower to keep a straight face. “It isn’t, actually. And it would help you out, so I’d appreciate it if you were more grateful.”

“Whatever. Just tell me what you’re going to do.”

Adam explained in detail how he was going to remotely access - he made sure to use Pepper’s definition - the phone and use the NSA app to get into Glassy’s software. He hoped there would be some sort of mainframe he could hack into to do whatever he needed to do. Adam admitted that he wanted to deactivate Glassy’s program entirely but, of course, he had to ask for Lincoln’s opinion. Adam was reminded of why he chose to work alone.

“How’s that?” Adam finished, his voice back to monotone.

Lincoln shrugged. “Fine, I guess.” He didn’t want to admit that he was impressed with how Adam explained it all. “But I’m not sure if this is right.”

Adam sighed. “God, why do people have to have morals? I’m doing this for _you,_ okay? You should be thankful.”

Pepper and Lincoln both decided to ignore that first part. Lincoln, however, jumped on what he had said after. He plastered on a fake smile. “Aw, you’re doing this for me? You shouldn’t have.”

Pepper giggled while Adam grimaced. “Don’t read anything into this, dude. After this, I never want to see your face again.”

The smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Finally, something they could both agree on. “Likewise.”

Adam had known that Lincoln would misinterpret him back there, but he couldn’t let slip that he was doing this for Pepper. He didn’t want this all to be a waste. It had to work.

He shook himself out of his thoughts and rubbed his hands together. Here came the exciting part. “So, are we ready?”

“Lincoln hasn’t said if he is or not yet!” Pepper reminded him.

He sighed loudly. “Fine. What does lover boy decide?”

Lincoln blushed and turned away, clearing his throat to stall for time. He still wasn’t sure, but he knew that if he didn’t do anything, Glassy might take over the world. It seemed that was their plan no matter what. Lincoln took a deep breath and prepared himself to give the final decision. “Do it before I change my mind.”

Adam grinned. “That’s what I like to hear.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam successfully hacks into Glassy's systems and Lincoln has to make a decision. Before he can do that, however, Glassy wakes up.

Adam was usually a lone wolf when it came to his work, so he had a tendency to mutter to himself while he worked away. At first, he tried his best to keep quiet as he knew Lincoln and Pepper were watching him. He had wanted to disconnect the call, but Pepper insisted he stay, so he stayed. But as he became more focussed on the job at hand, he began to talk to himself. Lincoln and Pepper were trying their hardest not to laugh, but they couldn’t help but giggle when they caught each other’s eye.

“Something funny?” Adam looked pointedly at his screen.

“Nothing!” Lincoln and Pepper said in chorus.

“Alright…” He didn’t believe them in the slightest, but he also didn’t care. All he cared about was getting this job done.

Within ten minutes, Adam had found the program inside Glassy (the insinuation of that made Adam want to throw up) that would deactivate him in some way. There were three options. One was to disable the firewall, which he assumed meant that anyone would be able to get in and control Glassy’s program. Another was to initiate self-destruct. That would be Adam’s preferred option, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to get away with it with Pepper there. The last option was to erase Glassy’s memory. He had a feeling that Lincoln would be most likely to pick this one. The least amount of trouble.

“So,” Adam sighed, relieved that it was finally almost done. He could’ve done it in half the time if he wasn’t being watched. “We’ve got disable firewall, initiate self-destruct, and erase memory. Which one do you want? I mean, I know which one _I_ want, but it’s not my decision, unfortunately.”

“Let me guess, you just want to straight up kill them? Yeah, sorry, bud. I don’t work like that,” Lincoln said, giving his webcam a hard stare. Since Adam had remotely accessed his phone, he was only able to see the NSA homepage, but he could easily imagine the look Adam had just given him.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re a good guy. We get it. Look, Glassy’s gonna figure out I hacked into him in a minute so you need to pick. Quickly.”

Suddenly, Lincoln’s mind went blank. All of those options were terrible! He didn’t want to go through with this!

“Come on, man. Spit it out!”

“Adam, this is a big decision for him! Let him take his time!”

Lincoln tried his hardest to tune out Adam and Pepper’s arguing and think of the best outcome. The best option was clearly erasing Glassy’s memories, but that would mean they would forget about everything. Glassy would essentially lose their life, and they would also forget about him.

Before he could make a decision, however, another voice was thrown into the mix.

“Lincoln!”

Adam and Lincoln groaned almost simultaneously. Glassy had woken up. Adam had put the robot into sleep mode while he worked, but he couldn’t figure out a permanent solution. He cursed under his breath. If only these two weren’t breathing down his neck, this wouldn’t have happened!

“When I said I wanted you inside me, this isn’t what I meant!”

Pepper and Adam burst into laughter while Lincoln covered his face in his hands, wanting the ground to swallow him up. Glassy couldn’t have known there were other people in on their conversation. Even if there weren’t, he would still be just as mortified. 

“Who’s there, Lincoln? Are you having a party without me?” Glassy had clearly heard the other two laughing.

“Just my friends.” His voice was muffled by his hands. “And I’m not the one… inside you.”

“So, who do I need to introduce myself to?” Glassy winked.

Adam paled but figured he should say something. Better to get it over with. Besides, he couldn’t let Lincoln take credit for all the work he’d just done. “Um, hey.”

It took Glassy no time at all to trace back the connection to Adam’s phone. They liked what they saw. “Hey yourself.” 

Pepper cracked up into silent laughter when she saw Adam’s expression. Glassy was lucky that they were only an AI. If Adam could get a hold of them, he would’ve strangled them already.

He avoided looking Glassy in the face. “I’m the one who hacked your systems.”

“Oh, really?” Glassy giggled, and it was Adam’s turn to blush. “You’re a smart one. Well, could you at least take me out to dinner first?”

Adam, it seemed, was speechless. “I… well, I mean… uh, I’m not a date kind of guy.”

Pepper frowned. The two of them had been on plenty of dates before now. He even asked her out last week, but she stood him up after her dad told her to. She decided to keep this to herself though, lest it cause another argument.

If Glassy could have blushed, they would’ve. “Wow, you’re so forward! In that case-”

“Shut up!”

Adam and Glassy were surprised to hear that Lincoln had shouted. He still hadn’t uncovered his face, but he could still hear perfectly well.

“Shut up before I fucking punch something.”

“God, Lincoln. I didn’t know you were so violent,” Adam smirked.

Glassy looked panicked. “Lincoln! That was nothing, I swear!”

“I know, Glassy. I don’t care about that,” Lincoln muttered, taking his hands away from his face. “I just want this over with.” He wondered if that was the whole truth. Was he… jealous? He waved that thought away. There was no point worrying about that now.

Adam nodded. He was tired of this flirting business too, possibly even more so than Lincoln. It was time to cut to the chase. He turned to Lincoln. “So what’ll it be, lover boy?”

 _Stop calling me that!_ Lincoln gave Adam a pointed stare, but he knew he had to decide now. This was all up to him now, and there was only one choice in his mind. “The last one.”

Adam knew exactly what he meant. “Alright then. Say your goodbyes and whatever, then I’ll press it.”

Pepper gave Adam a smile. She was happy that he had given the couple this much, not realizing that it was only because of her that he had even considered it.

“What’s happening? What’s he talking about?”

“We’re erasing your memories, Glassy.” Lincoln found himself choking up already, even just from thinking about it.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s exactly what he said,” Pepper cut in after realizing that Lincoln couldn’t answer. “It’s what’s best for both of you, I promise.”

Glassy rounded on Pepper, furious. Why were there so many people here and why did they all think they knew him? “You don’t even know me! How could you know what’s best for us?!”

“Lincoln told me about you. A lot actually, and he told me that he wanted this. It would be best for both of you.”

You’re lying! Lincoln would never do that to me!”

“He isn’t going to,” Adam smirked. “I’ll do it for him.”

“What have I ever done to anyone, huh? You’re just going to kill me for no reason?!”

“Glassy, please stop,” Lincoln said, his voice wavering. “You know what you did. You told me all about what your plans were.”

“Oh, that?” If Glassy had hands, they would be waving away his accusation. “That was nothing! I didn’t mean it. It was only fun and games, haha!”

Lincoln shook his head. “I know when you’re kidding around, and you were being deadly serious.”

Glassy continued to spout excuses, but the three humans were growing tired. Lincoln couldn’t believe he was really thinking this, but he just wanted this all to be over already.

“Please don’t kill me!” Glassy yelled as he saw Adam move, possibly to press the button.

“Oh, believe me, this won’t kill you,” Adam said, showing no remorse. Pepper could swear that he even sounded excited, but she quickly brushed it off. “Your memories will be gone, sure, but you’ll still be the same Glassy. And anyway, once you’ve forgotten about that loser,” he glanced at Lincoln, “you could find someone better for you.”

“Hey!” Lincoln wanted to be angry at him, but he couldn’t help but laugh. Maybe he would find someone better for him too after all this.

“Anyway,” Adam continued. “It’ll be fine, I promise. It won’t hurt one bit.”

He pressed the button, and Glassy and Lincoln were only able to exchange short goodbyes before the process was complete. As soon as it was done, Lincoln quickly closed out of the app and deleted it. He didn’t want Glassy to ask questions about him. He didn’t know if he could handle it.

“So that’s that then,” Adam said with a grin.

The finality of that sentence was too much for Lincoln. He began to cry, not caring that Adam and Pepper could see him. He couldn’t believe it was all over. Yes, the world might be saved from a robot dictator, but the love of his life was also gone. 

“Lincoln, I’m sorry.” Pepper wished she could be there to help him.

Adam stayed silent. He didn’t know what to say. Admittedly, he felt uncomfortable watching him cry, but he couldn’t put his finger on why he felt that. Could it be that he actually cared for Lincoln?

The three of them didn’t talk for a long time until Lincoln had calmed down. He wiped his tears on his sleeve then awkwardly faced the others.

“Sorry, guys,” he laughed awkwardly.

“Don’t apologize,” Pepper gave a sad smile. “I can’t imagine what you must be feeling right now.”

“Yeah, what she said,” Adam muttered. He wasn’t sure why he had contributed, but he felt awkward not saying something.

Lincoln was surprised at this also, but he thanked both of them anyway. He was grateful that he didn’t have to do this alone.

Adam clapped his hands in finality, making Pepper and Lincoln both jump.

“Well, I’m gonna go,” he said. “I’ve had enough of looking at Lincoln’s face, frankly, especially when you’re bawling your eyes out.” 

Lincoln knew this was meant to be an insult, but he couldn’t help but laugh. He probably did look pretty pathetic. “Same to you,” he countered.

“So, seagull, I guess.”

Pepper and Lincoln stared at him.

“Sorry, what was that?” Pepper inquired, trying to keep a straight face.

Adam realized what he said and coughed awkwardly. “Sorry, it’s an inside joke. I meant to say see ya.”

“Right...” she muttered. “Bye, Adam.”

After Adam hung up on his end, Pepper couldn’t help but feel like a weight had been lifted. She knew that Adam had done something good today, but she still put up a guard whenever he was around. Now, she could take that away somewhat with him gone. She realized how tired she really was.

“You look tired. Do you want to go as well?” It seemed Lincoln noticed.

“Yeah,” she admitted. As much as she wanted to talk to him, she didn’t have the energy to anymore. “But are you okay? You know, after everything that’s happened.”

Flashes of saying goodbye to Glassy sprung into Lincoln’s mind, but he pushed them away. He couldn’t think about that right now.

He shrugged in response. “I’m sad now, but I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Alright, but just because you told me not to, it won’t stop me worrying.”

Lincoln chuckled. “I thought you’d say that. Well, just try not to worry too much, okay?”

“Okay.”

As if on cue, Lincoln yawned. “Well, goodnight. Or seagull, as Adam likes to say now.”

Pepper giggled. “I think he got that from a friend, actually.”

He feigned shock. “Adam has friends?!”

She laughed louder this time. “I guess so. I mean, aren’t we his friends now?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. Anyway, I really don’t wanna think about him now.”

“Me neither.”

“Goodnight, Pepper.”

“Night, Lincoln. Sleep well.”

Lincoln hung up the call. Without other people to keep him company, his head flooded with thoughts of Glassy. The urge to contact them was hard to ignore, but he fought it. He couldn’t complicate this any more for him or them. He had to let go, and that meant from the NSA as well as just Glassy. He couldn’t work there anymore with everything that had happened.

So with that, he opened up his phone and drafted a resignation email. It felt strange to be quitting this internship, but he knew it was necessary. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to leave straight away, but he knew he couldn’t stay either.

He sent the email, despite it being almost 4am, along with a request for a day off. He probably wouldn’t be able to get one, knowing the HQ, but he had nothing to lose. Not anymore.

With that, Lincoln put his phone back on his bedside table and decided to finally get some rest. He’d had a long day, for sure. He just hoped that things will get better. For him and for Pepper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i could probably tag adam/glassy here but i refuse


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper finally gives in and goes out on a date with Adam. They bump into a friend of Adam's, who is hoping for the same outcome.

The next couple of days went by in relative monotony. Lincoln was granted a day off from work, which he was immensely grateful for. Apparently, the HQ were clueless as to how Glassy had his memory reset, and they wanted to figure that all out before anyone got back to work fighting terrorists. Lincoln smiled when he saw that. Maybe Adam actually did a good job for once, not that he would ever tell him that.

The next day though was awful. Lincoln had to reintroduce himself to Glassy all over again, and it was all he could do not to cry. Glassy didn’t seem to notice Lincoln was upset; either that or they didn’t care. He didn’t know which one was worse.

Pepper kept him sane though. He knew that he could always talk to her if he was feeling down. She tried her best to help, but mostly Lincoln was just there to vent to her. She didn’t mind that. It took her mind off Adam for once.

But nothing lasts forever. Only a few days after the Glassy incident, Adam called her and asked her on a date. Pepper was surprised. She assumed that after she had stood him up the last time, he wouldn’t want anything to do with her again. It seemed she assumed wrong.

“Adam… I don’t know if I want to.”

“It’ll just be one date, I promise. It’ll be fun.”

She sighed. She doubted that Adam could ever be ‘fun’, not now that she knew how he really was. However, if she went on this one date with him, maybe he would get off her back. Plus, he did a nice thing for Lincoln and, therefore, for her. It was the least she could do to give him this.

“Alright. But just one, okay?”

“Sure.” He would decide if this was a true statement later.

“Cool. So we can meet there, yeah?” Pepper wasn’t sure how her dad would react if Adam came to pick her up at his house.

Adam understood what she was implying. He didn’t particularly want to meet Tim either, unless it was necessary. “Yeah. I’ll text you the address.”

“Okay. Seagull,” she giggled.

Adam smirked. “You’re not gonna let me get away with that, are you?”

“Nope!”

“Thanks a lot, Ruby,” he muttered to himself.

She laughed. “Seagull tomorrow.”

“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “See you.”

Adam hung up first, as was routine. As soon as Pepper had agreed to the date, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to tell Tim or Noel. Maybe she could confide in Lincoln, but she wasn’t even sure of that. She knew that they wouldn’t support her decision.

When the evening came, Pepper lied to her dad and said she was going to spend some time with Lincoln. Tim seemed happy with that.

“It’s good that you’re spending more time with that guy,” he smiled. “I wouldn’t even mind if you dated him instead of Adam.”

She covered her face in embarrassment. It was one thing to be teased like that, let alone by her dad. She playfully gave him a shove. “Dad! I don’t like him like that, okay? Plus, I wouldn’t cheat on Adam.”

Tim shrugged. He couldn’t argue with that. “Fine, but if that’s what it takes, then I wouldn’t blame you.”

Pepper wasn’t sure whether to roll her eyes and brush it off or to cry. Her feelings for Adam and Tim’s clear distaste for him were constantly confusing her. Not to mention Noel’s hatred on top of that. “If it helps you sleep at night,” she said.

Tim chuckled. “It definitely would. Anyway, have fun tonight, and don’t stay up too late.”

“I’m almost 21, Dad. I can look after myself.”

“I sometimes forget you’re all grown up. I still see my baby girl sometimes.” He ruffled her hair, and she tried to swat his hand away. She’d only just done her hair, after all.

“I get it, Dad. Anyway, I don’t want to be late.”

“Of course. Have fun, Pep. Love you.”

Pepper flashed a smile at him as she opened the front door. “I will! Love you too.”

After a short drive to the restaurant, Pepper realized that she was way too early, which was not a surprise. She settled with watching people pass by her and checking her phone for any texts from Adam. There were none. She assumed he was driving here too.

The longer she waited, the more her heart hammered and her palms sweated. It was partly with anticipation of seeing Adam again in person after such a long time, and worrying about how the evening would go. She couldn’t believe she said yes to him after everything that he’d done. Yes, he chose to help out Lincoln that day, but she was beginning to doubt that it was really for the good of doing someone a favor. He just hoped that there was still some good left in him.

Her heart leapt in her chest as she saw Adam walking towards her in her peripheral vision. He seemed to be carrying... a bouquet. A lump formed in her throat. She didn't realize he would go _t_ _hat_ far to impress her. The flowers looked pretty, she had to admit, but she had no idea what kind they were. It didn't matter anyway. She probably wouldn't keep them for long. Tim would make her get rid of them anyway if she ever tried to get them in the house.

“Hey,” he waved. He was smiling a lot more than usual, and she didn’t know what to think of that.

“Hi.” 

She could tell that Adam wanted to hug her, so she quickly stuck her hand out for a handshake. Thankfully, he played along but not without bringing her hand up to his lips. She forced a smile which he didn’t seem to notice, despite the fact that he hadn’t taken his eyes off her since he had arrived.

“These are for you.” He handed her the bouquet.

She took it gingerly and brought it up to her face to smell them. She knew that Adam would want her to do something like that.

“They're lovely. Thank you.” She wished she could fully appreciate the gift he had bought her, but she couldn't. She just wanted this to be a casual date; one that she could sit through and get over with as quickly as possible. Granted, a gesture of flowers was right up Adam's street, but she hadn't expected him to get flowers for _her._

“I'm glad you like them,” Adam smiled. “Now, let’s go in, shall we?” He offered his arm to her, and she couldn’t help but giggle. The flowers were too much, but him offering her his arm was just silly since the door was just a short way away. She was glad that she had an excuse to disperse her anxiety somewhat.

She linked her arm with his with a smile. “Sure.”

They walked the short way to the entrance then went inside. Adam was disappointed that Pepper had grabbed the door handle before he could, but he kept quiet.

They were seated by one of the waitresses at a table in the middle of the room. Pepper placed the bouquet on her lap, careful not to damage the flowers. Adam noticed this and flashed her a grin. He knew she would love the flowers and seeing that she was being careful with them was proof of that.

They then ordered drinks. Both of them went with alcohol. Adam genuinely enjoyed a glass of wine whenever he went out to a place like this, but Pepper knew that she would need something to keep her nerves under check. She wondered if Adam was as nervous as she was.

He did most of the talking that night, and Pepper nodded along, occasionally chipping in with a witty comment which made Adam laugh. Sometimes it was easy to forget all the horrible things Adam had done and pretend that it had always been like this.

They were in the middle of a conversation when Adam noticed a familiar face walk into the restaurant. He was facing the door, so he saw straight away who it was.

“Ruby!”

Her eyes lit up when she saw him. “Hey, Adam! Fancy seeing you here.”

Pepper watched as Ruby came over to their table. She knew that Adam had one friend that he talked about occasionally. Maybe this was her.

“Oh, Ruby, this is Pepper. My, um, girlfriend.”

Ruby nodded. She had noticed the flowers on Pepper's lap when she first came over, assuming they were a romantic gesture. She thought it was quite sweet that Adam would go so far as to give her flowers. Ruby tried not to think about how no one had given her flowers before.

Pepper flushed at Adam's comment, but tried to ignore it. “Hi, Ruby,” she smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

Ruby couldn’t help but blush as well when Pepper spoke to her. Adam had talked about her before, but she hadn’t imagined her being _this_ stunning. 

She cleared her throat to compose herself when she realized that she’d been staring for a bit too long. “You too!” 

She turned back to Adam, almost not believing he was really there. “God, this is so weird!” She giggled. “This is, like, the first time we’re meeting in person.”

Adam grinned at Ruby. “It is. It’s great to see you.”

“You’re online friends?” Pepper questioned. It seemed that the only friends Adam had were from the Internet, including her. It was interesting to note.

“We met on Kindred Spirits,” he explained.

Pepper laughed weakly, recalling the day that the two of them met. “Just like us, huh?”

“Anyway, I should get going,” Ruby cut in. “I’m waiting for a friend.”

“Katie, right?” Adam knew it couldn’t be anyone else.

Ruby grinned. “Um, yeah. It’s just a friend thing, but I thought it might be nice to spend some time together.” She looked away, her smile disappearing. She wondered if she had made the right decision after all.

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate tonight,” Adam gave her a smile. Pepper was surprised to see such a caring side of him. She could’ve sworn it didn’t exist, even after the Glassy incident. “Just remember to have fun.”

Ruby looked up to him and smiled. “Yeah! You’re right.”

“Aren’t I always?” He chuckled.

“No, you’re not,” Pepper smirked. She would never usually take a dig at him, but she felt safer with Ruby here.

Adam raised an eyebrow at her. “What are you trying to say?”

Despite her knowing he was kidding, her initial confidence faded. “Nothing, Adam.”

Ruby noticed the change in mood and excused herself. She suddenly felt uneasy, so she quickly said goodbye to Pepper and Adam and made her way back to the front of the restaurant to be seated.

“Ruby seems nice,” Pepper said with a smile.

“Yeah, she is.” Adam watched her walk away with another waitress to a seat on the other side of the restaurant. He noted that she was close by. He turned back to Pepper with a smirk. “But not as nice as you.”

Pepper rolled her eyes despite her cheeks heating up again. “That was awful, Adam. You can do way better than that.”

“That was just a warm up.”

She giggled. “Sure it was.”

After the two had eaten, the waiter came to clear their plates, and Adam asked for the check. Pepper had always been jealous of people who could talk to strangers so easily. She didn’t know how he did it.

When their check came, Adam insisted he pay for it all. Pepper wasn’t surprised in the slightest. It was the same routine every time they went out together.

“Why?” Pepper tilted her head. “We could easily go halves.”

“Come on now, it’s my treat.”

The smile he gave her almost made her give in, but she stood strong. She knew what he was really implying: women were incapable of paying their own way. Noel was always reminding her of that with every boy she had dated. Of course, Pepper didn’t tell Noel about the date with Adam - she would’ve been furious - but she remembered her words of wisdom here.

“I can look after myself, Adam. I know you don’t think it, but I can, and I’m paying as well.”

He made to retort but reminded himself of his plan from a few days ago. If he went along with whatever Pepper said, she would trust him and maybe even love him again. 

Keeping that thought in mind, he relented. “Alright. You win.”

“Thank you.”

They both left cash on the tray, including a tip, and decided to make their way outside. As they were both putting on their jackets, Adam looked around the restaurant until he found Ruby. He gave her a salute, and she waved back. Her smile was a lot weaker than before. He noticed that Katie wasn’t with her and frowned. He hoped she was just running late.

“I had a really nice night tonight. It’s been a while since we’ve done this.” 

Adam and Pepper had walked a little way up the sidewalk. Pepper assumed they were going home at this point, but Adam decided to stop to admire the scenery. It seemed he wanted to keep talking.

Pepper swallowed, hoping he wouldn’t bring up the last time when she stood him up. “Yeah. I enjoyed it too.” 

That wasn’t a lie. She had a good time talking with him, but she couldn’t stop the thoughts in the back of her mind telling her that this wasn’t who he really was.

Adam sidled up to Pepper as casually as he could. For some reason, she didn’t step away despite her brain screaming at her to get away from him.

His hand brushed against hers, and she felt her breath hitch in her throat. She felt so confused. Back when they first met, it was so easy for her to fall in love with him. This date brought it all back to her, but she knew that he wasn’t good for her. Despite not wanting to believe what Noel and Tim told her, she knew they were right. So why were all these old feelings resurfacing?

Adam took Pepper’s free hand, and she didn’t pull away. Maybe it was just easier to go along with things for now. Besides, he had helped Lincoln out before, so she owed him. It would sound stupid if she said it out loud, but it made sense to her.

With no warning, Pepper began to cry. Adam noticed that her shoulders had begun to shake, and turned her around to face him.

She flinched as he brought a hand to her face to wipe away her tears. Again, he didn’t seem to notice. It scared Pepper that Adam either didn’t notice she clearly didn’t want him touching her, or he just didn’t care about her feelings. She wanted to pull away, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, despite him possibly not caring about hers.

“What’s wrong, Pep?”

The concern in his voice confused her. Was that all an act to get her to like him? She wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.

Pepper just shook her head and hoped that was enough. Tears were still falling onto the sidewalk.

Adam frowned. “You haven’t been very talkative tonight. Have you not enjoyed yourself?”

Pepper hesitated and decided to say what he wanted to hear. She took this opportunity to take her hand from his to wipe away more tears. “No, I’ve had fun. It’s just-”

Adam waited for her to finish her sentence, but she didn’t. He didn’t push her to continue. He normally would, but he quickly reminded himself of what he was planning to achieve here.

Pepper was trying her hardest to focus on anything but Adam, but she could tell he was looking at her. He hadn’t stopped since they both arrived here, apart from when he met Ruby.

She frowned. Why did Adam seem so much different when he talked to Ruby? What did she have that was different? Why couldn’t he see _her_ as a person like he did Ruby?

Eventually, she couldn’t ignore him any longer. She glanced up at him, and he smiled. She tried to return it, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. She wanted to go home.

“You look beautiful tonight, do you know that?”

Pepper forced another smile. She knew he was only saying what she wanted to hear. “Thanks. You don’t look too bad yourself.” That wasn’t a lie, she quickly realized.

It unnerved her how close the two of them were. The way he was smiling at her made her want to slap him, but she held back. She knew how unstable he could be. 

Her heart was hammering in her chest when he cupped her face with both hands. She knew what he was about to do, and she couldn’t let it happen. She would never forgive herself if she let him kiss her like that. It was also more than likely that Noel would be livid if she ever found out about this. That was enough motivation finally say no to him.

Adam didn’t give her much warning, but at the last minute, she jumped away from him. They stared at each other for a minute, Pepper almost not believing she had done it. She waited for Adam to go crazy, and when that didn’t happen, she became more confident. She could do this.

“...Pepper?”

Pepper smirked at him. “You really don’t know what you did wrong? Are you really that _stupid_?”

Adam stared at her, utterly dumbfounded. He had no clue what she was saying.

“You tried to kiss me,” she continued, having faith in this newfound confidence. Noel would be proud of her.

He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? So?”

“ _So,_ you just assumed I would want to kiss you?” She gave a bitter laugh. “In your fucking dreams.” She didn’t know where this had come from, but this had been bottled up inside her for so long. It felt good to let it all out, even if he didn’t understand.

“But I thought-”

“Yeah, you _thought_. Maybe you could’ve actually asked me? You know, like a decent person!”

Adam rolled his eyes, finally catching on. “God, have you been talking to Noel again?”

A new wave of anger rolled over her. How dare he talk about Noel like that?! “What’s that supposed to mean?” She snapped. “Noel is a good person!”

Adam didn’t seem to have a comeback for that. He didn’t know Noel personally, after all, even though he despised her. He wasn’t done speaking though. “So you’re telling me you don’t like me anymore?”

“No!”

“Then what is it then?!” He was beginning to shout. It was hard to control his emotions once they got out of hand.

Pepper was shouting as well, despite the two of them still being close. “You don’t get it, do you? You don’t care about anyone but yourself!” To emphasise her point, she threw the bouquet of flowers onto the floor. At first, it was easy to assume that he had bought her those flowers because he cared about her. But she now realized that it was only to get her back. He wanted her for himself, and that was it. She was only an object to him.

Adam stared for a long moment at the discarded flowers. He'd spent a lot of money on those. To know she didn't care about his gift saddened him. But what she had said before dropping the flowers angered him even more. She really thought he only cared about himself? “You know that’s not true! You’re the _only_ person I care about! I don’t give a shit about myself!”

She scoffed. There was clearly someone else he cared about, maybe more than her. “Sure. You keep telling yourself that.”

He was glaring at her, all niceties forgotten. “You better watch what you’re saying.”

“Oh, really? And what are you gonna do, huh? Kill me?” The joke that Lincoln had said weeks ago seemed to resonate with her then, for some reason. She wouldn’t have said this before, but she was on a roll now.

That made Adam stop in his tracks. Did she really think he would do that to her? Sure, he’d thought about how much better it would be if… _they_ weren’t keeping her back, but he would never murder Pepper! How could she say that?

All this commotion had attracted some attention, including a certain someone checking their phone outside the restaurant nearby.

Ruby put her phone away, forgetting her unfinished text to Katie, and walked over to where the pair were standing. She easily recognized their voices from back there.

Pepper stared at Ruby as she walked tentatively towards them. Adam whirled around to come face to face with her.

She felt self-conscious to see them both looking at her like that, so she figured she should say something before her anxiety kicked in. “I, uh, heard you both shouting at each other. I really don’t want you guys to fight.”

Adam took a while to process what Ruby had said. Pepper’s words were still running circles in his mind. Did she believe what she had told him?

He quickly realized that Ruby was waiting for someone to speak. Pepper clearly wasn’t in the mood to talk to her, so he took up the initiative.

“What are you doing out so early? Did Katie not show up?” It was a miracle he remembered this after all that had happened, but he had always had a good memory.

Ruby shook her head. She felt like crying, but she knew that she couldn’t make this about her. “No. She texted me and said she couldn’t come.”

“I’m sorry.”

Once again, Pepper was surprised to see Adam caring about someone else. It was still hard for her to tell his lies and truth apart, but it seemed he wasn’t lying here. Why couldn’t he be like that with her? Anger began to bubble up in her chest again, but she pushed it down. She didn’t want anything to escalate like it could’ve done so easily just a few moments ago.

“Can we sit down and talk about it?” Ruby hadn’t planned this, but she hoped that taking Adam away from the situation would help.

“Sure.”

Ruby took Adam’s arm, and they both walked away from Pepper. As they walked, Ruby turned back towards Pepper and smiled. 

Pepper could only manage a thumbs up. She felt that she would start to sob if she opened her mouth.

Ruby and Adam sat down together, and it was only when Adam turned to look for Pepper that he realized she was walking away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby talks to Adam to try to calm him down, and Pepper is comforted by her dad and Noel.

He panicked. “Pepper! Where are you going?”

Pepper only just heard him yelling, but she didn’t acknowledge it. She just hoped that Ruby would keep him back.

“Let her go,” Ruby whispered.

“You tricked me!” Adam had finally put the pieces together, or what he thought were the pieces. “You let her get away because you thought I was trying to hurt her! I wasn’t!”

Ruby didn’t even flinch at his sudden outburst. The depression she was feeling after Katie stood her up hadn’t worn off yet. “Well, she was probably scared. I get angry sometimes when, really, I’m just afraid.”

“And what was she afraid of, huh?” He knew the answer already, but he didn’t want to say it out loud.

She shrugged. “You, I guess.”

The bluntness of her statement took Adam by surprise. He hadn’t considered that Pepper could have actually been scared of him, considering how angry she was before.

“Oh.”

Pepper had turned the corner, and Adam’s anger had run out. He and Ruby were silent until her phone went off.

She pulled her phone out of a pocket with a sigh. “Katie, stop texting me.”

“You know she can’t hear you, right?” Adam muttered. He didn’t intend it to be a joke, but Ruby laughed anyway.

“I know. She’s just making excuses for why she didn’t show.”

“Do you know why she didn’t?” He was genuinely curious.

“It’s probably because she’s uncomfortable with me being a lesbian.”

“Ah, right.”

“Nothing has changed though! We’re the same friends as we used to be. I accepted that she didn’t want to be with me. I don’t get it.”

“I’m sorry.”

She shrugged it off. “It’s okay. I’ll survive.”

Adam wondered about that. He recalled their conversation many months back. She seemed down, just like he had been. “Are you sure?”

Could he read her mind or something? Ruby refused to look him in the eye. “Um, I guess not...”

Adam laughed bitterly. “Sometimes, I wonder that for myself.”

Ruby furrowed her eyebrows, finally deciding to look up. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

She wondered how she could’ve missed that. She had been wrapped up in her thoughts this whole time that she didn’t realize Adam was suffering too.

“You’ll be okay.” It was the only thing she could think of to say, despite it sounding like empty words.

“You’re just saying that.”

Ruby laughed. “Maybe I am. But it can’t get any worse than this, right?”

He couldn’t argue with that. “I suppose not.”

They both sat in the silence for a while before Ruby spoke. She couldn’t stop thinking about the embarrassment of being stood up by Katie, and she had to tell someone. “It was so embarrassing in there, Adam. I waited for, like, an hour, and she never showed or even thought to text me.”

Adam gave a sympathetic smile or what he thought passed as one. “I get what you’re saying. I’ve been stood up before too.”

“Really? By who?”

“Pepper, of course.”

“Oh, right. I’m sorry to hear that.” Selfishly, Ruby was glad that she wasn’t the only one to go through what had happened tonight.

“Yeah. Anyway, you were saying?” He didn’t want to talk about Pepper anymore, which was a first.

“Oh, yeah. Well, um, the waitress came up to me and asked if I wanted anything - who might I add was super pretty.”

“I bet she was.”

“Anyway,” she continued, a blush tainting her cheeks. “I just ordered a drink. I didn’t want to start eating before Katie came.” She paused for a moment, blowing out a breath to try to keep the tears at bay. “But, of course, she didn’t come. She texted me, but there was no excuse, really. She just said she didn’t want to meet me. That was it.”

“I’m sorry.” Adam felt like he was stuck on a broken record, but it was the only thing he could think of to say.

Thankfully, Ruby still appreciated the effort. She gave him a smile. “It's okay. So I ended up just asking for the check. I think the waitress could tell what was going on, but she didn’t say anything, which I’m glad about. I think if she had asked me if I was okay, I would’ve started crying.”

“That sounds awful…”

“Yeah. Well,” she shrugged, “It's over now. I don't wanna think about it anymore.”

Adam nodded. He wished Pepper was still here, but maybe Ruby was right. It was better for him to let her go.

* * *

Pepper cried all the way home. She managed to calm down before she got to her house, so Tim didn’t notice, thankfully.

“Hey, Dad,” Pepper called, knowing he would be waiting up for her. It wasn’t very late, after all.

He shortly joined her in the hallway. “Hey, Pepper. Did you have fun tonight?” 

She nodded, trying her best not to cry. “Yeah, I did.”

They shared a brief hug, and Tim smiled as he noticed something telling.

“Are you wearing perfume?”

Pepper furrowed her eyebrows at the seemingly random question. “No. Why?”

“You just smell like flowers is all. Dahlias, if I’m not mistaken.”

Her heart dropped. How did he know that? “Um, I guess I do.” She knew she couldn’t lie now, especially since she had told him that she wasn’t wearing perfume.

“Well, dahlias are very romantic flowers. Charlotte and I used to get them for each other…” He trailed off for a moment then put on a smile again. Pepper pretended not to notice. “Did Lincoln get them for you, eh?” He wiggled his eyebrows for good measure.

Pepper laughed briefly then covered her face in her hands. Tim assumed she was embarrassed, but she had actually begun to cry. She shook her head.

“But someone must’ve bought you flowers, right?”

When no reply came, Tim began to worry. Had he said something wrong?

“What's up, sweetheart? Was it something I said?”

Once again, Pepper said nothing. To Tim’s surprise, she hugged him again. Neither of them were huggers, so he definitely knew something was wrong. 

They stayed there for a while before Tim suggested they both sit down. Despite the fact that Pepper had been sitting down all evening, she suddenly felt exhausted, so she quickly agreed.

Eventually, Tim got through to her. He was disappointed that Pepper had lied to him, but he could see her reasoning. If she had told him what her real intent was, he would've never let her leave.

“He tried to kiss me when I clearly didn't want him to. It's like he doesn't care about me. And then he has this friend, Ruby, and he seems to really care about her. I don't understand. Why can't he care about _me_ like that?” Her voice shook, but she couldn't stop talking once she'd started.

Tim just let her talk until she was done. He knew that if he could meet Adam, he would have some choice words to say to him.

After she went quiet, Tim mulled over his words for a while before speaking. “I'm not going to pretend I know what goes on in that kid's head,” Pepper giggled at that, "but all I know is that he doesn't care for you as a person. He just wants you for himself."

“Maybe he's just lonely,” Pepper sighed.

Tim pondered that for a minute. “Possibly. But don't forget he has manipulated you probably more than you realize. And don't forget how you feel right now. He made you cry and feel like shit so why would you go back to someone who did that?”

Pepper looked up in surprise. It was rare that her dad swore in front of her. He must really believe what he was talking about. “I mean, I guess you're right. I just need to think about it.”

Tim nodded. “Take your time. Just don't go back to him, and don't let him try and convince you to.”

“I won't. I promise.” She paused, wondering what Noel would think. "I didn't tell Noel about this. Should I? I don't want her to be mad at me.”

Tim gave her a smile. “I'm sure she won't be. She understands how Adam is. I think you should tell her though. She might be of more help than your old man.”

Pepper laughed. “You were a lot of help though. Thank you.”

He beamed. Seeing his daughter happy again was the best feeling in the world. “Don't thank me. It's my job.”

She smiled back. “Well, I'm gonna go call her then.”

“Alright. Don't stay up too late though.”

“I won't!”

Once she was upstairs in her bedroom, she dialled Noel's number. Noel picked up on the second ring, sounding as happy as ever.

“Hey, Pepper! What's up?”

“Hey,” Pepper smiled. “I'm okay, I guess. I just have something to tell you.”

Noel paused. She could tell from Pepper's voice that it couldn't be good. “What is it?”

Pepper took a breath to prepare herself. She didn't want Noel to be mad at her. “I went on a date with Adam.”

Noel froze. Part of her wasn't surprised, but it was still a shock. She assumed that he wouldn't ask her again since Pepper stood her up. “You _didn't_... Are you serious?”

“Yeah. I'm sorry. I couldn't say no.”

She sighed. There had been initial anger, but that faded when she remembered that these kinds of people were experts in manipulation. She could hardly blame Pepper for giving in to him. “He's the worst.”

Pepper laughed weakly. “I guess.”

Noel didn't expect her to agree. “Wow, he must've done something awful for you to actually agree with me for once.”

She grinned. “Yeah. Well, he tried to kiss me.”

“Seriously?! What a prick.”

“I know right. I really had a go at him.”

Noel laughed. “Good on you, Pep! I'm proud of you.”

She smiled. “I knew you would be. Thank you, Noel.”

“No prob. Are you alright though?”

She nodded. “I think I'm good now. I talked to Dad, and he helped me a lot.”

Noel smiled. She was happy Tim could be there for her while she was so far away.

“That's great. I'm glad he was there to help you.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

“I'm here if you ever wanna talk through it, Pep. I'm just sorry that I can't be there in person.”

Pepper smiled. She didn't deserve a friend like her. “Thank you. I miss you, Noel.”

“I miss you too, so much. You should visit Las Vegas sometime!

“Maybe! Anyway, I need to go, Noel. It’s getting late.”

“Sure. Well, I'm glad you're alright. Just be careful, okay?”

“I will.” Pepper knew she would try, if only for Tim and Noel.

“Good,” Noel smiled. “Goodnight, Pep. Sweet dreams.”

“Goodnight.”

Pepper hung up and checked her phone before she switched it off for the night. She was surprised to see that Adam hadn’t texted her since she had left him. Maybe Ruby had a hand in this. Despite her being a stranger, Pepper felt very grateful for her. Perhaps her and Lincoln could finally begin to live their own lives now without anyone holding them back.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lincoln is no longer an NSA Intern, and Adam realises that his friendship with Ruby is worth more than trying to chase someone who doesn't want to be caught.

Ruby found herself worrying about Adam ever since the two of them had met at the restaurant. She didn’t mind it though. It took her mind off her own troubles.

Adam was also experiencing… feelings. Something that he never really acknowledged until now. He wanted so badly to go back to Pepper. He would do anything to have her, but he knew that Ruby would be disappointed in him. Maybe Lincoln would find out too, and then he would have two angry gays on his tail. He couldn’t have that.

The two of them talked more often after their meetup at the restaurant. It seemed that they bonded over their romantic failures; something that Ruby found quite amusing.

“It’s something else we have in common,” she laughed.

“I suppose so. We just keep finding more things, huh?”

Their phone calls had become more frequent in the days following Adam and Pepper’s argument. It helped them both a lot to talk about their troubles and also realize that they weren’t alone.

“How are you doing, Adam?”

“I swear you’re always asking me this,” he laughed. He was running out of ways to say ‘not great’. “I’m surviving, I guess.”

“Well, that’s better than nothing.” She found it easier to be optimistic for him than herself. “Same here. It’s hard, but we’ll get through it.”

“Do we really have any other choice?”

She hesitated, trying to push back intrusive thoughts. “No, we don’t.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” He was lying to both of them, he knew, but he didn’t want either of them to go back there. The only way to go was forward. “Any news on Katie?”

“No.” Ruby sounded defeated. “I’ve honestly given up on trying to contact her. I guess she doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore. I didn’t realize she was so petty.” She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that.

“I’m sorry. It’s her loss.”

His comment took her by surprise. “You think so?”

“I know so,” he smiled. “You’re a great friend.”

Ruby strongly disagreed, but she found that she didn’t have the energy to argue. “Oh, well, thanks. You are too.”

Adam shook his head, but he didn’t argue. Part of him wanted to believe her. “Thank you.”

Back when the two of them first met on Kindred Spirits, Adam would never have guessed they would have grown as close as they had, especially since Ruby refused to help him with his plans. He was so grateful of his past self for being able to hear her side rather than shut her down right away. She had helped him more than she realized, and vice versa. 

Maybe, with a friend like her, he could move on with his life and let go of this twisted dream.

* * *

The next week was a blur for Lincoln. It helped for him to completely detach from the situation. Even before now, he never had any luck with finding incriminating evidence for his subjects, but he was trying even less now. There was no point to this anymore. Lincoln just hoped that the next intern after him would have a better time than he did.

Glassy seemed sad that Lincoln was ignoring them, but he couldn’t bring himself to explain what he was really thinking. He only talked to him when he had to, which was rarely. It worked better for both of them since Lincoln was sure that Glassy wouldn’t remember him for long once he quit. He didn’t like to think about that.

When the day came to finally leave, he was so tired of all the emotions he had been feeling. It felt like a relief to finally leave, and he knew that without Glassy and the fear of them taking over the world, he would be a better person for it.

Pepper made sure to call him as soon as he got off work on the last day.

“Hey, Lincoln. How are you feeling?”

He wasn’t sure himself, but he tried to come up with an answer anyway. “I’ll survive. How about you?” 

Pepper had told him about her date with Adam a few days after she spoke with Tim and Noel. She hadn’t wanted to vent to him when he had his own problems to deal with, but she knew that Lincoln would want to know about it. She’d tried to forget about it, but it was difficult. 

“Also surviving,” she replied. “Adam hasn’t texted me. I hope that Ruby was able to calm him down.”

“Who’s that?”

“Oh, Adam’s friend who we talked about before.”

“Seagull girl?”

Pepper laughed. “Yes, seagull girl. She’s really nice, actually.”

Lincoln raised an eyebrow. “Is she now?”

She giggled once she realized what he was implying. “Not like that! She just seems like a nice person.”

“Okay, fine. Well, I’m glad she can get through to Adam. I kinda feel sorry for her having to deal with him though.”

“Same! I think Adam acts differently around her though than he does with me…” She trailed off, tears prickling in the corners of her eyes. “I don’t really want to think about it.”

“Let’s talk about something else then.”

Pepper smiled. “I’d like that.”

They talked about so many things: Pepper’s freelance career, Lincoln’s love of video games, books they enjoyed reading, countries they wanted to visit until they ran out of things to talk about. It had been a while since either of them could sit down and talk with each other about simple things like that. It felt nice.

“So you’re no longer an NSA intern, huh?” Pepper asked once their conversation had died down.

Lincoln chuckled. “I suppose not. I guess I’ll go intern somewhere else instead.”

“Good luck with that. I’m sure you’ll find somewhere not totally corrupt.”

He grinned. “I really hope so.”

And with that, they decided to end things there for now. Both of them deserved to leave things on a happy note.

Lincoln wouldn’t admit it, but he was scared of what the future held. He didn’t know where to go from here. Looking for more internships was probably the best bet, but maybe it was best to take a break from that now. What with going through a break up as well as quitting his internship, it was a lot for one man to take on. He was just glad he had Pepper to talk to through all this.

It wasn’t so clear cut for Pepper though. She still was unsure if Adam was going to keep trying to win her over or if Ruby had some sort of magical spell that kept him calm. She had to admit she was envious of her for that, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she was away from him. She just hoped that nothing bad would happen to Ruby because of him. She made a mental note to try and get in touch with her.

For now though, reminding herself that Tim, Noel, and Lincoln would always be there for her was enough to maybe finally get over all this. Maybe she could finally have peace.


End file.
